Ironfish653

Then they're probably Aluminum.

Aluminum can be finished in a wide variety of shades, grades and colors. It can be polished to look like chrome, clear anodized (like the seatpost), It can be brushed, (and usually clear ano'ed) which gives it a brighter or darker hue, depending on the alloy. Aluminum can also be anodized in any number of colors, Black, Red, Gold, Purple, or even Titanium Gray.

Hard Anodizing is a common finish for Al parts that see a lot of wear (like handlebars) and it produces a darker finish (depending on the alloy) like you'd see from an SS or Ti part.

Ti handlebars were never common, even in the 'billet aerospace everything' late 1990's, and have for the most part been moved out of the common market by Carbon Fiber, except for really boutique applications. Somehow, i don't see the owner of a $400 Raleigh MTB fitting it with an $200 Ti handlebar, and leaving the rest of it untouched.

Stainless Steel is pretty rare as a bike material, because it's very, very heavy. Other than the Bridgestone/Kabuki 'Submariner' frame, I can't think of an other application of Stainless Steel for bike components (other than fastners)

njkayaker

It's probably even less likely to have been thrown-out with Ti bars. It doesn't seem to be high-end bike. Were stainless steel bars even really available 20 years ago?

https://www.benscycle.com/nitto/flat...0-26934/search

Stainless is much cheaper than Ti.

njkayaker

This doesn't seem to be true. For frames, it appears it isn't used much because it's hard to work and more expensive. Maybe, it's a bit heavier too.

https://salsacycles.com/bikes/archive/2015_vaya_travel

hillyman

Bike looks pretty good shape for its age. But if was my dumpster project I'd be more concerned with wear on gears, bearings, cables, shock and spokes than handlebar material. That's just me

njkayaker

I suspect Ti handlebars (or anything) were much more expensive in the '90s than now.

unterhausen

Ti bars are very rare. Have there ever been production Ti bars? All the ones I have seen were aftermarket custom and cost as much as that bike. Stainless bars are so rare that I'm not sure there are any.

i had a bike very much like that one. Same stem. It had aluminum bars. Just looking at the poor pictures, I am sure it's not titanium or stainless. Not the right color for either.

JohnDThompson 

That may have been true 40 years ago, when the Submariner bike was on the market (and the earlier Swedish Crescent stainless steel bike, but modern metallurgy now offers maraging stainless alloys in lightweight gauges. But your point remains correct to the degree that such materials are unlikely to be used in mass-produced frames.

Ironfish653

Especially when you had options like the Answer Hyperlite and Scott LF series getting into the 140g range at a fraction of the price.

Those Nitto SS bars look like they're for the Fixie/SS crowd rather than MTBs, vintage or not.

njkayaker

It was just an attempt at getting a rough cost.

. Cranky .

I think aluminum conducts via holes and so exhibits a reverse Hall voltage.

Ironfish653

But the question remains, other than the look, why would you use Stainless Steel for bars or other bike components. It doesn't offer any weight savings, or, in the context of bicycle use, corrosion resistance over materials (typically aluminum) that cost far less to manufacture.

Again, that's why we see so little SS in the mainstream bike market.

curbtender

Hey, could be magnesium.

njkayaker

I don't disagree with this but it wasn't something I was talking about.

That wasn't really the question anyway. It was whether the bars on the OP's bike could be stainless.

All I was addressing was one reason why the bars on the OP's bike were not likely to be stainless.

2cam16

Exactly what I told the OP in another thread about his bike: cheap bike, no Ti will be spec'ed on that bike.
I guess he just wants to believe it's Ti so lets all just play along.

rosefarts

Probably beryllium.

Paul Barnard

I am going with staintanium.

indyfabz

Wrong! Dilithium.

alo

It is one of the best bikes I have rescued. It appears to never have been left in the rain. Most bikes which are not valued are left in the rain. It has probably not been ridden a lot of kilometers either. It has dust and spider webs on it. If I cleaned it, it would look like new. Everything just works. Most trashed bikes need some repairs or adjustment. There seems to be little wear. The cables all run free. The tires hold air, but lose pressure over a number of weeks.

I like the handlebars, whether they are valuable or not. They look good, are strong, and will not rust. Most rescued bikes have rust and scratches.

alo

For people in competition who want the absolute minimum weight, it does not offer an advantage.

For people who want a bike which will look good for years to come, stainless steel is good. Aluminum does corrode when left in the rain.

I did not go out and buy it. I just happened to come across it, and I like it.

njkayaker

Cool. It looks in good shape.

rosefarts

Ritte makes one off the top of my head. There isn't such a thing as a low end beater in stainless though.

Gconan

Warakin

veganbikes

I saw this thread and got really excited and then saw it was asking "does my cheap Raleigh have some fancy handlebars" and I was disappointed. That Raleigh is likely using cheap aluminum bars or possibly steel but not stainless just cheap steel though most likely aluminum.

As far as Stainless Steel for bikes:
Columbus has XCr
Reynolds has 953 and 921
KVA has MS3
and there might be others I have missed. Plenty of builders who work with it. Ritte and Cinelli have/had stainless bikes as stock for a while that I can remember (might be others)

For Titanium there are tons of builders from custom to more stock stuff. My Foundry and Salsa ti frames were not custom built (though I hope to do some custom ti in the future) My next ti frame from Habenero is old stock but may have been a custom order at some point but someone upgraded and since it is Ti you just clean it up and boom still good.

If you are looking for rarity then Magnesium is a more rare material for bikes. A company called VAAST is making them currently and back in the day Kirk Precision made them and that didn't go so well. I think Allite is making that tubing these days so there might be other builders. I remember hearing Weis MFG was going to work with it but I haven't looked in a while.

Camilo

Agree - many aluminum bike parts are polished to a high shine. If the handlebar is not magnetic, I will add $50 to the above $20 bet that it is aluminum.

I also agree that this thread has passed the wheel spinning stage.

Camilo

Look, you asked what the non-magnetic material is. You say several times you're certain it's not aluminum, apparently because it's shiny. Many people, probably having had many, many bikes (OK, just speaking for myself) state it's impossible or nearly so that it's titanium or stainless steel on a bike like that. So the consensus - and you asked for input - is that it's polished aluminum. Yes, aluminum polishes to a nice shine and will stay that shiny for a long long time. I would say that every single bike I've owned in the past 30 years has aluminum handlebars, many of which have been very shiny, at least on the parts that weren't covered with bar tape..

Finally, you're nowhere near the bike and obviously won't be riding it for a while. So why go on and on and on arguing with those of us - again whose opinions you've asked - who believe the bars are shiny aluminum, not titanium or stainless steel.

When you get back to the bike, decide for yourself. Come back here and tell us we're wrong so we can learn of this highly unusual thing. It would be highly, highly (highly) rare that your non-magnetic bars are not aluminum. I, for one, would really like to know.